Category: Sweets

This video doesn’t even begin to convey the surprise and excitement that I felt when someone in Lyon, France recognized me from the old YouTube videos I used to make for my old job! We live in a small world – let’s all be nice to each other because you never know who you’re going to meet!

Here’s the recipe for the cookie dough I make in the video. It’s a great recipe that holds its shape extremely since there is which is great for stamping, and it doesn’t need to be chilled in between mixthe dough and rolling it out, so it gets extra points as a time saver.

Easy Cut Out Cookie Recipe

10 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 egg at room temperature
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2-1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon teaspoon salt
1/4 cup whole milk at room temperature
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar together on medium speed until very light and fluffy. Add the egg and beat well to combine, scraping down the bottom and sides of the bowl as needed. Add the vanilla and almond extracts and beat until well combined.
Stir together the flour and salt. Add the flour mixture alternately with the milk in 3 additions, scraping the bowl well after each addition, stopping after the last of the flour has been incorporated.
On a heavily floured countertop, roll out the cookie dough to 1/4 inch thickness. Imprint and cut into desired shapes, and transfer to the parchment lined baking sheets, leaving about 1 inch in between cookies. Bake for 7-10 minutes depending on the size of the cookies. The cookies will not brown much, but they are done when the middle of the cookie looks matte instead of slightly greasy.

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Bûche de Noël is a traditional French holiday dessert. It translates to “Christmas log.” It’s formed by filling a moist sponge cake with icing and rolling it up, then cutting one end off and reattaching to form a stump. Yule log cakes are often decorated with cute meringue mushrooms, and I garnished mine with tree bark (shards of dark chocolate) and a faint dusting of snow (powdered sugar). This classic French cake will be the centerpiece of your holiday dessert table!

Sift together the cake flour and cocoa powder. In a large bowl, combine the egg whites, 1/4 cup of sugar and salt. Using an electric mixer, whip it on high speed until foamy; add cream of tartar. Continue whisking until the whites are glossy and form stiff peaks, about 3-4 minutes.

In a large bowl, whip the egg yolks, 1/2 cup of sugar, and vanilla extract with an electric mixer until thick and pale yellow, about 3 minutes. Carefully fold 1/3 of the beaten egg whites and all of the sifted flour/cocoa mixture into the beaten yolks until just combined. Add the remaining beaten egg whites into the bowl and gently fold until they are totally incorporated. Spread the batter gently into the parchment lined pan and smooth the top.

Bake for 7-8 minutes or until the center of the cake springs back when touched. Remove from the oven and immediately loosen the edges with a butter knife and turn out onto a clean kitchen towel. Remove the parchment paper from the back of the cake and roll the cake up from the short side and let cool completely, seam side down.

Preheat the oven to 200°F. Using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat the egg whites, granulated sugar and salt until frothy. Add the cream of tartar and beat until stiff, glossy peaks form. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla extract and beat until the meringue is very dense, stiff, and glossy. Transfer the meringue to a piping bag fitted with a medium round tip. Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper. Pipe 1 inch long cones for the mushroom stems and quarter-size circles for the mushroom caps onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Dip your finger in water and press down any harsh points, especially on the mushroom caps. Dust the caps lightly with cocoa powder and bake until the meringues are completely dry, 1-1/2 to 2 hours. Cool completely. Attach the stems and caps with a dab of icing or melted chocolate.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the egg whites, granulated sugar and salt. Set over a double boiler over simmering water and whisk frequently until the mixture reaches at least 140°F on a thermometer.

Whip the hot mixture at high speed with an electric mixer until the outside of the bowl is cool to the touch. While beating on medium-low speed, add the butter, one chunk at a time, scraping down the bottom and sides of the bowl as necessary. Add the vanilla and beat until well combined.

To assemble the yule log, unroll the cooled cake cake and spread 2 cups of vanilla icing over, leaving about 1/2 inch on every side clean. Re-roll and chill while preparing the chocolate. Melt 6 ounces of dark chocolate. Pour about 2/3 of the chocolate onto a parchment lined pan and spread into a thin layer. Use a spoon or a spatula to make irregular marks vertically all over the chocolate. Refrigerate to set. Pour the rest of the melted chocolate, which should be cooler by now, into the remaining vanilla buttercream and stir or beat until completely incorporated.

Make a 2 inch cut at a 45 degree angle at one end of the cake for the stump. Place the long piece of the cake on your serving plate. Attach the 2 inch cut stump with chocolate icing to the top or side of the cake, with the cut side facing outwards. Ice the rest of the cake with chocolate buttercream.

Break the cold chocolate sheet into large shards and arrange around the outside of the cake. If the chocolate begins to melt while working with it, just pop it back into the refrigerator or freezer for a minute before continuing. Attach the meringue mushrooms to the top and around the sides of the yule log and dust with powdered sugar.

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No more dry, dense, rock hard scones! Make buttery, tender scones in about 30 minutes. What’s the secret to a light scone? Use Swan’s Down Cake Flour instead of regular all purpose flour. It’s got a lower protein content, so your scones will be lighter and more fluffy. I love making scones for Sunday brunch because they a fast, easy recipe, and they taste great when they are fresh. Get the full recipe for these Chocolate Apricot Scones with Almond Glaze in the video description here: https://youtu.be/6rNqbedI5f0

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I am not a camper, but I can totally get down with s’mores, especially if they’re made with ooey-gooey homemade marshmallows and crispy from-scratch graham crackers! That’s right – mine are totally homemade smores and crazy delish! You don’t even need a campfire!

If you like this video, subscribe to my YouTube Channel! I post a new baking video every Wednesday.

Stir together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Whisk together the honey, milk, and vanilla.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add half of flour mixture and beat until partially combined. Add the wet ingredients and beat until fully combined. Add the rest of the flour and and beat until fully incorporated, scraping bottom and sides of bowl as needed. Divide the dough into 2 disks about 1 inch thick and refrigerate at least 2 hours.

When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Dust the countertop generously with flour and roll one disk of dough at a time to 1/8 in. thickness. Cut into squares and pierce with a fork. Place on a baking sheet and chill for at least 20 minutes to help retain their shape. Bake for 14-18 minutes or just until the edges of the cookies darken slightly.

In a mixing bowl, stir together the gelatin with 1/2 cup of the cold water. Have the whisk attachment standing by.
Combine the remaining 1/2 cup water, sugar, corn syrup and salt in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium high heat, then cover and cook for 3 more minutes. Uncover,the pot and attach a candy thermometer to the side of the pan. Continue to cook until the mixture reaches 240 degrees F (softball stage), approximately 7-8 minutes. Immediately remove from the heat.

Turn the mixer fitted with the whisk attachment to low speed to break up the set gelatin. With the mixer still running on low, slowly pour the sugar syrup down the side of the bowl into the gelatin mixture. When all of he syrup has been added, increase the mixer speed to high and whip until the mixture cools to lukewarm, about 15 minutes. It will become more voluminous, thick, and very sticky. Add the vanilla and coconut extracts during the last minute of whipping. Pour the mixture into the coconut lined pan, using wet hands to spread it evenly. Sprinkle additional coconut over the top to cover the marshmallows completely. Let them sit uncovered for at least 4 hours to set up. To cut, gently loosen the sides of the marshmallows from the pan before removing the entire sheet. Spray a pizza wheel with nonstick cooking spray and cut into large squares. Dip the sticky sides into more shredded coconut. Store in an airtight container until ready to eat.

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Every birthday deserves a great cake, and first birthdays are no exception! Smash cakes have become so popular for 1st birthday parties, so when I was invited to a party for my friend’s 1-year-old, I knew I had to make an easy smash cake for the birthday girl. Watching a baby dig into a cake with their tiny hands, smearing frosting all over their faces and tasting the sweetness for the first time is magical. But since the cake is going to get demolished anyway, why spend a lot of time or effort? It doesn’t take much skill to make this fluffy, cute easy smash cake. To me, the soft colors and texture resemble a cuddly baby blanket.

The nubby texture is easily made by piping buttercream with a tip 233, also known as the grass tip. Watch how easy it is to decorate – well worth the time to see the baby dig in on her special day!

If you like this video, subscribe to my YouTube channel! I post a fun baking video every Wednesday and would love to have you!

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Sugared flowers look beautiful and impressive as cake decorations, but they’re very easy to make. Many larger grocery stores stock edible fresh flowers in the herb section of the produce department. They come in plastic clam shell packaging, just like the other herbs. Opening up a package is a bit like Christmas morning – you’re not sure what’s going to be inside, but expect vibrant colors and a great variety of shapes. Common edible flowers include nasturtium, marigolds, geraniums, and lavender.

Making sugared flowers is simple. All you need is a pasteurized egg white, a splash of water, some granulated sugar, and a small brush. The result is a sparkly, crystallized effect that is gorgeous on top of a baked treat like this little cake. After the crystallized flowers dry, they have a slightly crunchy texture and a very mild floral taste that pairs perfectly with lemon. That’s why I showcased my sugared fresh flowers atop this homemade lemon cake.

Mother’s Day is this weekend. and I think that this is the perfect way to celebrate your Mom or the other fabulous women in your life. A homemade cake AND fresh flowers? What mom wouldn’t love that?

Here’s how easy it is to make!

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I love Swiss Meringue Buttercream so much that I’ve already blogged about it. It is my absolute favorite frosting recipe, the one I turn to 99% of the time I make cakes or cupcakes. I’ve made this basic icing recipe so many times that I no longer need to reference the recipe during cooking. I have it memorized. I wonder how many times I whipped it up before it became stamped in my mind forever…that’s a lot of frosting…

For all of you visual learners, I’m now sharing my SMBC* love via video. Check it out, and let me know if you have any questions. I’m happy to help you out!

*SMBC is what all of us “serious” cakers call Swiss Meringue Buttercream. Because who’s got time to say all 7 syllables when there’s cakes to be baked, and stacked?

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the egg whites, granulated sugar and salt. Set over a double boiler over simmering water and whisk frequently until the mixture reaches 150°F on a thermometer.

Whip the hot mixture at high speed with an electric mixer until the outside of the bowl is cool to the touch. Switch to paddle attachment on mixer. While beating on medium-low speed, add the butter, one chunk at a time, scraping down the bottom and sides of the bowl as necessary. Add the vanilla and beat until well combined.